THE DESERT DOG BLOG: BISSONNETTE AND CARCILLO ARE PALS

Paul Bissonnette is eager for tonight’s game against the Flyers because it means he and buddy Daniel Carcillo might end up on the ice at the same time and then who knows, perhaps a friendly bout?

Bissonnette

“Yeah, it’s hockey right?” Bissonnette told me after Friday’s practice. “We both have a job to do and if it comes to that he’s a very willing guy and I’m a very willing guy. Are we going to be looking for each other? No, I don’t think so. But if I hit one of his guys and he comes up and asks me, then yeah.”

Should they fight, it wouldn’t be the first time. Bissonnette told me he and Carcillo once fought during training camp as teammates within the Pittsburgh Penguins organization.

“It wasn’t a very good fight,” Bissonnette said. “We weren’t trying to kill each other. I would say it was a draw.”

Scouts from Team Canada were on hand in Minnesota the other night to scout captain Shane Doan and others for the upcoming Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Doan is going through a frustrating stretch of games in which his shots are hitting posts and crossbars and his breakaway/penalty shots are been stoned by opposing goalies.

“It's been awhile since I went through something like this, but it happens," Doan said. "I'm getting opportunities, I've just got to bury them."

I saw defenseman Zbynek Michalek on the ice at Friday’s practice. I had to do a double take because he was dressed like a coach and not a player, but he was out there for a few moments.

Michalek, of course, is nursing a lower-body injury and is still considered week-to-week.